International Competitions

by Grace

At the beginning of August, I won my first international competition that I made to the finals. (The only other time I even entered was last year.)
The competition was LA Young Musicians International Competition. They generously gave me 1,000 dollars for winning in my category.
Also, I was shocked to see that I had won a special award for Best Contemporary Music Performance. This was not previously announced and thus, a surprise - and a delightful one at that.
I was so nervous before playing in this competition. I couldn't even eat before the final round (which, if you know me, is surprising). However, Jesus helped me get through it.
He helped me play amazingly for the semi-final round - better than I had ever done before. I was able to express the right feelings: the pain of Ravel hidden under the waves of his Une Barque Sur L'ocean, occasionally coming out in a pained G-sharp. And then I played my contemporary piece, and I was able to portray a lonely, solitary, silent feeling of being alone outside on a snowy day, reflecting on death. At the end was a warm light from heaven.
I bowed. Outside, my mother and I were giddy with delight.

I messed up on my pieces for the final round. Forget the tauntingly long row of judges. There is nothing worse than being surrounded by a room full of your competitors and their vicious mothers, and messing up in front of them. I was lucky to be able to finish my Bach. Angela Hewitt, a specialist in the interpretation and performance of Bach, said, "Playing Bach can be like playing a tongue twister." That was how it was to me.
But I did my best. I tried to show Bach's reverence for God in it. I then played my Debussy. I tried to show the fairies in the woods.

Afterwards, I cried on the way home. I was disappointed by my performance, but I wasn't that sad because I had done my best. Also, I was exhausted, and my body was sore in random places - as if I were seventy instead of fourteen!

We got the call. Before we received the results, my mother and I talked about it. Usually, people who mess up are immediately dropped, or given Honorable Mention. We were hoping that the judges would remember how well I did in the semi-finals and give me third place.
They told me I received first.

And then there was the Hong Kong international competition that I participated in a few weeks ago. It is officially called Alice and Eleanor Schoenfield Strings Competition. The awards were, in order of descent from best to worst: 1st, 2nd, 3rd, Outstanding, Excellent. Sophia and I both won the "Outstanding" awards. We thank God for this.

It was a very good experience. And that is the thing about all international competitions, and all competitions in general. You gain experience that will only benefit you in life. You grow. You learn what to do and what not to do in the future. You discover your mistakes, new things about yourself, and even realize things about your relationship with God and other people around you.

I learned in my competitions that if you really do your best, there will always be good fruit to your labor, even if the outcome wasn't what you wanted.
When I did my best in the LA competition, I wasn't even that sad that I had messed up. I was proud of myself, and that I had kept going forward.
I also learned other lessons (that I'm sure will have to be repeated in my life), like humility and patience. Most of all I am realizing more and more, that all the glory is truly to God.

Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam.